Hodoriv. From Station to Station in 2 Hours

There are towns you get to know while passing through them in transit. Hodoriv is a railway junction that you can reach by suburban and long-distance trains from Lviv, Stryi, Zhydachiv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Halych. To sit at the station for two hours waiting for the suburban train — no, that is not for me. A two-hour blitz-hike along the town's main streets proved instructive and successful, despite the rainy weather.

Hodoriv. The railway station

Novhorodske. A New York in the Donetsk Region

In 2016 a bill was registered on the Verkhovna Rada's website to rename the settlement of Novhorodske in the Donetsk region as New York. This was the name the former German colony bore until 1951. What of note has survived in this workers' settlement, founded by Mennonites in the 19th century, who gave it its overseas name?

Novhorodske. Donetsk region.

Halych. An Early-Mediaeval Castle in a Modern Reworking

The 14th-century Halych Castle — a mighty stronghold at the centre of the early-mediaeval Galician-Volhynian Principality, an architectural monument of national significance.

Halych. Castle Hill. The Starostyn Castle, 14th c.

Bakhmut. The World of Sparkling Wines and the Culture of Drinking

A New Year's table is hard to imagine without a bottle of sparkling wine, which creates a wonderful sense of celebration. With a glass of champagne we make a wish. How is it born, in what conditions is it made, and do we know how to drink the magical beverage? About this and much else you can learn by visiting the sparkling-wine factory in Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region.

Bakhmut, the sparkling-wine factory. Dionysus with the maenads in the tasting hall